Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and non-transitory computer-readable storage medium

ABSTRACT

An image processing apparatus includes a memory and at least one processor or circuitry or a combination thereof. The memory is configured to store determination conditions. The at least one processor or circuitry or the combination thereof is configured to acquire image data and extract a feature element from the image data. The at least one processor or circuitry or the combination thereof is further configured to determine whether the extracted feature element satisfies conditions defined in the determination conditions. The at least one processor or circuitry or the combination thereof is further configured to set an area with reference to an extracted feature element satisfying the conditions based on the determination conditions. The at least one processor or circuitry or the combination thereof is further configured to set an attribute of the area based on the determination conditions.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is based on and claims priority pursuant to 35U.S.C. §119(a) to Japanese Patent Application Nos. 2016-056331, filed onMar. 18, 2016 and 2016-255941, filed on Dec. 28, 2016 in the JapanPatent Office, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporatedby reference herein.

BACKGROUND

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to an image processing apparatus, amethod for processing an image, and a non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium.

Description of the Related Art

An image processing technique is known that properly identifies a textarea in an image to increase a compression ratio for a documentcontaining only text. With this technique, a document file size inreduced.

Further, a technique is known that extracts horizontal and verticalborders from a form and extracts cells based on the extracted borders toperform text recognition for each cell.

Furthermore, a technique is known that detects a background level of animage acquired by scanning a document and detects a character edge inthe image using parameters that are changed based on the backgroundlevel.

SUMMARY

Disclosed herein is an image processing apparatus including a memory andat least one processor or circuitry or a combination thereof. The memoryis configured to store determination conditions. The at least oneprocessor or circuitry or the combination thereof is configured toacquire image data and extract a feature element from the image data.The at least one processor or circuitry or the combination thereof isfurther configured to determine whether the extracted feature elementsatisfies conditions defined in the determination conditions. The atleast one processor or circuitry or the combination thereof is furtherconfigured to set an area with reference to an extracted feature elementsatisfying the conditions based on the determination conditions. The atleast one processor or circuitry or the combination thereof is furtherconfigured to set an attribute of the area based on the determinationconditions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete appreciation of the embodiments and many of theattendant advantages and features thereof can be readily obtained andunderstood from the following detailed description with reference to theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of amultifunction peripheral (MFP) as an example of an image processingapparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of animage processor included in the MFP of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of ascanned-image correction unit illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of atext area determination unit illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating steps in an overall operationperformed by the image processor according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIGS. 6A and 6B are a flowchart illustrating steps in an operation ofdetermining the text area illustrated in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating subsequent steps in the operationillustrated in FIG. 6B;

FIGS. 8A to 8C are illustrations for describing an example in which aprocess of setting an area with reference to a dividing line is appliedto image data obtained by scanning an image formed on a sheet of paperaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 9A and 9B are illustrations for describing an example in which aprocess of setting an area with reference to a background dividing-lineis applied the same image data as that of FIG. 8A;

FIG. 10 is an illustration for describing a process of setting an areawith reference to a specific character according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIGS. 11A and 11B are illustrations for describing an operation ofextracting a background dividing-line using determination conditionsregarding a dividing-line according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIGS. 12A and 12B are illustrations for describing an operation forextracting a candidate for a background dividing-line from a result ofbackground extraction according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure; and

FIG. 13 is an illustration for describing an operation of consolidatingthe setting result of areas based on a plurality of feature elements todetermine a text area according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

The accompanying drawings are intended to depict embodiments of thepresent disclosure and should not be interpreted to limit the scopethereof. The accompanying drawings are not to be considered as drawn toscale unless explicitly noted.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In describing embodiments illustrated in the drawings, specificterminology is employed for the sake of clarity. However, the disclosureof this specification is not intended to be limited to the specificterminology so selected and it is to be understood that each specificelement includes all technical equivalents that have a similar function,operate in a similar manner, and achieve a similar result.

As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” are intended toinclude the multiple forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise.

An embodiment of the present disclosure will be described hereinafterwith reference to drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of amultifunction peripheral (MFP) 100 as an example of an image processingapparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The MFP 100 is an image processing apparatus that includes variousfunctions such as a printer function, a scanner function, a facsimilefunction, a copier function, and a document storage function.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the MFP 100 includes a central processing unit(CPU) 101, a read only memory (ROM) 102, a random access memory (RAM)103, a hard disc drive (HDD) 104, a communication interface (I/F) 105,an operation unit 106, a display unit 107, and an engine interface 108.These hardware components are connected to one another via a system bus109. Further, the MFP 100 includes a scanner 120, a plotter 130, and animage processor 200, which are connected to the engine interface 108.

The CPU 101 executes programs stored in the ROM 102 or the HDD 104 usingthe RAM 103 as a work area to control entire operation of the MFP 100and implement various functions.

The ROM 102 and the HDD 104 are non-volatile storage media (storingunits) and store various programs executed by the CPU 101 and variousdata described in detail later.

The communication interface 105 is an interface that enables the MFP 100to communicate with other apparatuses. The communication interface 105could be any interface that complies with the standard of acommunication path to be used.

The operation unit 106 includes various keys, buttons, and/or a touchpanel to accept user operation.

The display unit 107 includes a liquid crystal display (LCD) and/or anindicator lamp to display various type of information to a user such asan operational state or settings of the MFP 100 and messages.

It should be noted that the operation unit 106 and the display unit 107may be external devices. Further, the MFP 100 does not necessarilyaccept user operations directly from a user. In other words, the MFP 100may accept user operations from an external dedicated device that isconnected to the MFP 100 via the communication interface 105. Further,the MFP 100 may display various information to the external device. Inthis case, the operation unit 106 and the display unit 107 are optional.

The engine interface 108 is an interface that connects the scanner 120,the plotter 130, and the image processor 200 to the system bus 109 toenable the CPU 101 to control the scanner 120, the plotter 130, and theimage processor 200.

The scanner 120 is an image reading device that scans a document 121(FIG. 2) and obtains its image data. The scanner 120 sends the imagedata to the image processor 200.

The image processor 200 determines a type of the document scanned by thescanner 120. Further, the image processor 200 selects a compressionratio corresponding to an image resolution suitable for the documentdepending on the type of the document. The image processor 200compresses the image data with the selected compression ratio andoutputs compressed image data. The image processor 200 in thisdisclosure could be more than one.

The plotter 130 forms an image on a sheet of paper in accordance withimage data. Specifically, the plotter 130 is capable of forming an image131 (FIG. 2) based on the compressed image data output by the imageprocessor 200.

FIG. 2 is block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of theimage processor 200. Each of the functional blocks is implement bydedicated hardware, a processor that is caused to execute software, or acombination thereof. At least a part of functional blocks may beimplemented by the CPU 101.

As shown in FIG. 2, the image processor 200 includes a scanned-imagecorrection unit 210, a compression unit 220, a data interface unit 230,a decompression unit 240, and a print-image correction unit 250.

The scanned-image correction unit 210 classifies image data scanned bythe scanner 120 and performs image processing on the image data. Adetailed description is given later of functions of the scanned-imagecorrection unit 210.

The compression unit 220 compresses the image data corrected by thescanned image correction unit 210 for internal processing.

The data interface unit 230 is an HDD management interface used when theimage data compressed by the compression unit 220 are temporally storedin the HDD 104.

The decompression unit 240 decompresses the image data compressed forinternal processing for use of image formation by the plotter.

The print-image correction unit 250 corrects the image data decompressedby the decompression unit 240 as needed, and sends the corrected imagedata to the plotter 130.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of thescanned-image correction unit 210 illustrated in FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 3, the scanned-image correction unit 210 includes adocument type identification unit 211, a text area determination unit212, an image area segmentation unit 213, a scanned-imagegamma-correction unit 214, a filtering unit 215, a color correction unit216, and a text-area gamma-correction unit 217.

The document type identification unit 211 determines whether image dataas a processing target is image data of a document containing only textor image data of a colored document based on the features of a documentcontaining text, a chromatic color document, a photograph on aphotographic paper, and a photograph printed on a sheet or paper.

The text area determination unit 212 determines a text area that ispresent in an image represented by the image data based on features ofthe image. In other words, the text area determination unit 212 performsdetermination on image data that remains undetermined even after thedetermination by the document type identification unit 211 or performsre-determination to prevent erroneous determination.

The image area segmentation unit 213 separates the image data as aprocessing target into three types of areas, that is, a black text edgearea, a color text edge area, and other areas, with reference to adetermination result of the text area determined by the text areadetermination unit 212.

The scanned-image gamma-correction unit 214 converts the image data thatis linear to reflectance into image data that is linear to imagedensity.

The filtering unit 215 switches a filter to be applied to image datafrom among a plurality of filters. Specifically, the filtering unit 215applies three different filters respectively to the three types of areasin the image data as a processing target that are separated by the imagearea segmentation unit 213.

The color correction unit 216 converts RGB image data to CMYK image datain areas other than the black text edge area.

The text-area gamma-correction unit 217 adjusts the gamma of the textarea containing black text and color text to emphasize the textcharacters. The image data on which processing by the text-areagamma-correction unit 217 has been performed is supplied to thecompression unit 220.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of thetext area determination unit 212 illustrated in FIG. 3.

The text area determination unit 212 includes a dividing-line areadetermination unit 261, a background dividing-line area determinationunit 262, a specific-character area determination unit 263, adetermination condition acquisition unit 264, determination conditions265, an area extraction unit 266, and a determination result settingunit 267.

When determination conditions acquired by the determination conditionacquisition unit 264 includes an item regarding a dividing line, thedividing-line area determination unit 261 sets an area based on adividing line in the image data and sets an attribute of the area.

Specifically, the dividing-line area determination unit 261 extracts avertical dividing line or lines and a horizontal dividing line or linesfrom document data or image data that is obtained by scanning a documentprinted on a sheet of paper. In addition, the dividing-line areadetermination unit 261 calculates, for each of the extracteddividing-lines, parameters to be compared with the determinationconditions. Further, for each of the extracted dividing-lines, thedividing-line area determination unit 261 compares the parameters of thedividing line with the determination conditions. Furthermore, for eachof the dividing-lines whose parameters match the determinationconditions, the dividing-line area determination unit 261 sets an areaand an attribute of the area based on the determination conditions.Examples of attributes that is set for each area include a text area anda picture area.

When the determination conditions acquired by the determinationcondition acquisition unit 264 includes an item regarding a backgrounddividing-line, the background dividing-line area determination unit 262sets an area based on a background dividing-line in the image data andsets an attribute of the area. In this disclosure, the backgrounddividing-line means a background space that constitutes a virtualdividing line in place of an actual (visible) line.

Specifically, the background dividing-line area determination unit 262extracts a background area or areas from document data or image datathat is obtained by scanning a document image printed on a sheet ofpaper. In addition, the background dividing-line area determination unit262 calculates, for each of the extracted background areas, parametersto be compared with the determination conditions. The backgrounddividing-line area determination unit 262 may extract only an area orareas having a long and narrow shape as a potential backgrounddividing-line. Further, for each of the extracted background areas, thebackground dividing-line area determination unit 262 compares theparameters of the background area with the determination conditions, anddetermines each of the background areas whose parameters match thedetermination conditions as a background dividing-line. Furthermore, foreach of the background dividing-lines, the background dividing-line areadetermination unit 262 sets an area and an attribute of the area basedon the determination conditions. A detailed description is given laterof an operation of extracting the background area with reference toFIGS. 12A and 12B.

When the determination conditions acquired by the determinationcondition acquisition unit 264 includes an item regarding a specificcharacter, the specific-character area determination unit 263 sets anarea based on a specific character in the image data and sets anattribute of the area.

Specifically, the specific-character area determination unit 263 detectswhether there is a specific character or characters that matches thedetermination conditions in document data or image data that is obtainedby scanning a document image printed on a sheet of paper. Further, foreach of the detected specific characters, the specific-character areadetermination unit 263 sets an area and an attribute of the area basedon the determination conditions.

The determination condition acquisition unit 264 reads out and acquiresinformation stored as the determination conditions 265.

The determination conditions 265 defines various conditions fordetermining various areas such as the text area based on features of adocument (image data of the document) that is likely to be detectederroneously.

This determination is performed based on a feature element such as thedividing line, the background dividing-line, and the specific character.The areas such as the text area and the picture area are set withreference to the feature element. The determination conditions 265 isdata defining conditions that the feature element has to satisfy, aposition in the image data where the area is to be set with reference tothe feature element that satisfies the conditions, and an attribute tobe set for the area. A detailed description is given later of thedetermination conditions 265.

The area extraction unit 266 determines a range of the area of eachattribute such as the text area and the picture area in the image databased on the result set by the dividing-line area determination unit261, the background dividing-line area determination unit 262, and thespecific-character area determination unit 263.

The determination result setting unit 267 sets, to the range that isdetermined as the text area in the image data, a compression ratio thatis different from the compression ratio applied to other areas.

It should be noted that whether the dividing-line area determinationunit 261, the background dividing-line area determination unit 262, andthe specific-character area determination unit 263 actually performs theabove-described determination process or not depends on for which typeof the feature elements the determination conditions 265 includes theconditions.

The following tables 1 to 4 are examples of the determination conditions265.

The determination conditions 265 include a category list of featureelement as illustrated in Table 1. The determination conditions 265further includes a detail table for each category as illustrated inTables 2 to 4.

TABLE 1 ID Feature Element A Dividing line B Specific character CBackground dividing-line

TABLE 2 Element conditions ID Color Color of Determination (A_)Orientation of line Width range Interval Range Result 001 Vertical lineBlack 0.1 mm Mono- Don't Sandwiched Text chromatic care portion 002Horizontal Black 0.1 mm Containing 30 mm Sandwiched Text line Colorportion 003 Horizontal Black 0.1 mm Mono- 50 mm Sandwiched Text linechromatic portion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

TABLE 3 Element conditions ID Color of Combin Symbol Determination (B_)Symbol range ation inclusive? Direction Range Result 001 “Å” Mono- A_001Inclusive Horizontal To next Text chromatic dividing line 002 “▾” Mono-A_001 Inclusive Horizontal To next Text chromatic dividing line 003 “Δ”Mono- A_001 Inclusive Horizontal To next Text chromatic dividing line .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

TABLE 4 ID Element conditions Determination (C_) Orientation Width Colorof range Interval Range Result 001 Vertical line 10 mm Containing Don'tcare Sandwiched Text color portion 002 Horizontal  5 mm Monochromatic 30mm Sandwiched Text line portion 003 Horizontal 10 mm Monochromatic 50 mmSandwiched Text line portion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

In each of Tables 1 to 4, priority among items in the table may bedesignated. For example, when the determination regarding a backgrounddividing-line is to be performed prior to the determination regarding adividing line, the feature elements in Table 1 may be arranged in thedesired execution order. This enables performing the determinationprocess regarding each feature element in the desired order. The sameapplies to each of the determination conditions of Tables 2 to 4. Ineach of Table 1 to Table 4, an ID (identification) is a sequentialnumber indicating a priority level.

Table 1 associates a category ID of the feature element with a type ofthe feature element. Although Table 1 stores the dividing line, thespecific character, and the background dividing-line as the type offeature element, any other suitable type of feature element may be used.In this case, the text area determination unit 212 includes anadditional determination unit corresponding to the type of featureelement.

Table 1 to Table 4 stores details of the determination conditionsregarding the feature element of each category defined in Table 1. Thenumber of those detail tables corresponds to the number of categoriesdefined in Table 1. In this embodiment, Tables 2 to 4 are providedrespectively for the three categories defined in Table 1.

In each of Tables 2 to 4, data of one row indicates contents of onedetermination condition. Each of the determination conditions includesinformation of the ID, element conditions, a range, and a determinationresult.

From among those information items, the “element conditions” defineconditions that the feature element has to satisfy or conditions that arelation between the feature element and another element has to satisfy.The number and content of the element conditions vary depending on thecategory of feature elements.

The “range” indicates a position or a space where an area is to be setwith reference to the feature element. The “determination result”indicates an attribute to be assigned to the set area. Although thedetermination result includes only “text” (text area) in examples ofTable 2 to Table 4, any other suitable attribute may be set.

Table 2 is a table of the determination conditions regarding a dividingline, which is the feature element associated with ID=A in Table 1. Withrespect to the dividing line, the element conditions include anorientation, a color of line, a width, a color of range, and aninterval.

The “orientation” indicates a condition for an orientation of dividingline. Any one of a vertical line, a horizontal line or a “Don't care”(any orientation) is specified. The “color of line” indicates acondition for a color of a dividing line. Although “black” is designatedas the color of line in an example of Table 2, color information such asa ratio or an amount of RGB may be specified. The “width” indicates acondition for a width of dividing line. Although the width isrepresented in unit of millimeters in an example of Table 2, the widthmay be in any suitable units such as inches and pixels. The width ofdividing line may not be exactly same as the value specified in Table 2.A dividing line having the same or substantially the same width as thevalue in Table 2 is determined as a dividing line satisfying thecondition.

The “color of range” defines whether a feature element (dividing line)as a processing target is determined as a feature element satisfying theelement condition when the area that is set with reference to thefeature element based on the condition of the “range” is monochromaticor when the area contains color. The “interval” indicates an intervalbetween dividing lines. The interval is a condition for an intervalbetween a target dividing line and an extracted neighboring line. Those“color of range” and “interval” are not conditions regardingcharacteristics of the feature element itself.

For example, with respect to the determination condition of ID=A_001, acertain dividing line is determined as satisfying the element conditionswhen the certain dividing line is a black vertical line having a widthof 0.1 mm, and a portion sandwiched between the certain dividing lineand the neighboring line (based on the condition of the “range”) ismonochromatic, regardless of an interval between the certain dividingline and the neighboring line. In this case, the portion sandwichedbetween the dividing line satisfying the element conditions and theneighboring line is set to an area, and an attribute of the area is setto text according to Table 2. It should be noted that the neighboringline also has to satisfy the element conditions associated with the sameID.

Table 3 is a table of the determination conditions regarding a specificcharacter, which is the feature element associated with ID=B in Table 1.With respect to the specific character, the element conditions include asymbol, a color of range, a combination, a symbol inclusive or not, anda direction.

The “symbol” indicates a specific character or a character string usedin the determination. The symbol is indicated by image data, a charactercode, a font, and/or a size (width and height), for example. The “colorof range” is the same or substantially the same as that of Table 2. In acase in which the “range” is defined relative to a feature element thatsatisfies the element conditions associated with an ID different from atarget ID, the “combination” designates the different ID. The IDdesignated by the “combination” could be more than one.

The “symbol inclusive or not” indicates whether the “range” is set toinclude the specific character itself. The “direction” indicates adirection of a character string used in the determination. Eithervertical or horizontal is designated.

From among those element conditions, the element conditions other thanthe “symbol” and “direction” are not conditions regardingcharacteristics of the feature element itself.

For example, with respect to the determination condition of ID=B_001, acertain specific character “A” is determined satisfying the elementconditions when the certain specific character “A” is arrangedhorizontally, and a region (based on the condition of the “range”) fromthe specific character (inclusive) to a next dividing line satisfyingthe element conditions associated with the ID=A_001 along a direction inwhich the character string is arranged is monochromatic. In this case,the region between the specific character “A” and the next dividing linesatisfying the element conditions associated with the ID=A_001 is set toan area, and an attribute of the area is set to text according to Table2.

Table 4 is a table of the determination conditions regarding abackground dividing-line, which is the feature element associated withID=C in Table 1. With respect to the background dividing-line, theelement conditions include an orientation, a width, a color of range,and an interval. The determination conditions regarding the backgrounddividing-line are the same or substantially the same as those of thedetermination conditions regarding the dividing line of Table 2 exceptfor not including “color” as the element condition.

Hereinafter, a description is given of steps in an operation of imageprocessing including setting the area and the attribute according to thedetermination conditions described heretofore with reference toflowcharts.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating steps in an overall operation of theimage processing.

The image processor 200 starts the operation illustrated in theflowchart of FIG. 5 in response to acquiring image data from the scanner120. This process of acquiring the image data corresponds to a step ofinputting image data. Further, this process of acquiring the image datacorresponds to circuitry to input image data.

First, the text area determination unit 212 of the scanned-imagecorrection unit 210 distinguishes a text area from other areas in theimage data (S11). A detailed description is given later of determiningthe text area at S11 with reference to a flowchart of FIGS. 6A, 6B and7. At S12, the image area segmentation unit 213, the scanned-imagegamma-correction unit 214, the filtering unit 215, the color correctionunit 216, and the text-area gamma-correction unit 217 successivelyperforms image processing for a scanned image on the image data acquiredfrom the scanner 120.

At S13, the compression unit 220 compresses the image data acquired fromthe scanner 120. More specifically, the compression unit 220 performscompression on the text area and other areas (picture area) respectivelywith different suitable processes based on the determination resultobtained at S11 by the text area determination unit 212. At S14, theimage processor 200 stores the compressed image data in the HDD 104 viathe data interface unit 230.

At S15, the decompression unit 240 decompresses the image data stored atS14 before the output by the plotter 130. At S16, the printing-imagecorrection unit 250 performs image processing on the decompressed imagedata in accordance with characteristics of the plotter 130. Further, atS16, the printing-image correction unit 250 performs image processingsuch that characters in the text area are emphasized based on thedetermination result at S11. The printing-image correction unit 250outputs the image data on which the image processing has been performed,and the operation of FIG. 5 ends.

The image processing at S16 on characters in the text area is performedin order to prevent the edge of character from becoming light due toprocessing from S12 to S15 or to enhance legibility of characters thatdeteriorates due to show-through that occurs when a document having ahigh-level background is scanned.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are a flowchart illustrating detailed steps in theoperation of determining the text area at S11 of FIG. 5. The operationillustrated in this flowchart corresponds to the function of the textarea determination unit 212 illustrated in FIG. 4.

First, at S21, the text area determination unit 212 refers to thecategory list (Table 1) from among the determination conditions 265acquired by the determination condition acquisition unit 264 todetermine whether the determination conditions 265 includes thecondition regarding a dividing line. When the determination conditions265 includes the condition regarding a dividing-line (S21: YES), thedividing-line area determination unit 261 extracts all dividing linescontained in the image data (S22). Further, at L1, the dividing-linearea determination unit 261 performs processes from S23 to S25 onedetermination condition regarding a dividing line (see Table 2) at atime until the processes are performed on all of the determinationconditions regarding a dividing line.

More specifically, at S23, the dividing-line area determination unit 261obtains, from among the dividing lines extracted at S22, a dividingline(s) that satisfies the element conditions in the determinationcondition as a current processing target. The dividing-line areadetermination unit 261 retains information regarding a dividing line(s)that is not obtained at S23.

At S24, the dividing-line area determination unit 261 sets an area withreference to a dividing line and an attribute of the area based on thedividing line acquired at S23 and the determination condition as thecurrent processing target. For example, when the current processingtarget is the determination condition of ID=A_001, the dividing-linearea determination unit 261 sets an area to a portion sandwiched betweenthe dividing lines satisfying the element conditions associated withID=A_001. In addition, the dividing-line area determination unit 261sets an attribute of that area to text. At S25, the dividing-line areadetermination unit 261 stores the dividing line or lines that satisfythe element conditions in association with the determination conditionas the current processing target. The information stored at S25 isreferenced in processing on the other feature elements such as aspecific character.

After the loop L1 from S22 to S25, or when the determination result atS21 is NO, the operation proceeds to S31. At S31, the text areadetermination unit 212 determines whether the determination conditions265 acquired by the determination condition acquisition unit 264includes the condition regarding a background dividing-line. It shouldbe noted that although Table 1 indicates that the determinationregarding a specific character is to be performed prior to thedetermination regarding a background dividing-line, in an example ofFIGS. 6A and 6B, the determination regarding a background dividing-lineis performed prior to the determination regarding a specific character.

When the determination conditions 265 includes the condition regarding abackground dividing-line (S31: YES), the background dividing-line areadetermination unit 262 extracts all background dividing-lines containedin the image data (S32). Further, at L2, the background dividing-linearea determination unit 262 performs processes from S33 to S35 onedetermination condition regarding a dividing line (see Table 4) at atime until the processes are performed on all of the determinationconditions regarding a dividing line.

More specifically, at S33, the background dividing-line areadetermination unit 262 obtains, from among the background dividing-linesextracted at S32, a background dividing-line(s) that satisfies theelement conditions in the determination condition as a currentprocessing target. The background dividing-line area determination unit262 retains information regarding a background dividing-line(s) that isnot obtained at S33.

At S34, the background dividing-line area determination unit 262 sets anarea with reference to a background dividing-line and an attribute ofthe area based on the background dividing-line acquired at S33 and thedetermination condition as the current processing target. For example,when the current processing target is the determination condition ofID=C_001, the background dividing-line area determination unit 262 setsa portion sandwiched between the background dividing-lines satisfyingthe element conditions associated with ID=C_001 to an area. Further, thebackground dividing-line area determination unit 262 sets an attributeof that area to text. At 35, the background dividing-line areadetermination unit 262 stores the background dividing-line or lines thatsatisfy the element conditions in association with the determinationcondition as the current processing target. The information stored atS35 is referenced in processing on the other feature elements such as aspecific character.

After the loop L2 from S32 to S35, or when the determination result atS31 is NO, the operation proceeds to S41 of FIG. 7. At S41, the textarea determination unit 212 determines whether the determinationconditions 265 acquired by the determination condition acquisition unit264 includes the condition regarding a specific character.

When the determination conditions 265 includes the condition regarding aspecific character (S41: YES), the specific-character area determinationunit 263 performs processes from S42 to S46 (L3) one determinationcondition regarding a specific character (see Table 3) at a time untilthe processes are performed on all of the determination conditionsregarding a specific character. Different from the dividing line or thebackground dividing-line, the condition for extracting a specificcharacter is included in the determination conditions. This is thereason an extraction of specific character is performed in theprocessing loop L3.

In the processing loop L3, at S42, the specific-character areadetermination unit 263 generates data of a specific character to bedetected based on the designations of the “symbol” and the “direction”from among the determination condition as a current processing target.At S43, the specific-character area determination unit 263 extracts,from the image data as a processing target, all specific characters thatmatch the generated data of specific character.

At S44, the specific-character area determination unit 263 obtains, fromamong the specific characters extracted at 43, a specific character(s)that satisfies the element conditions in the determination condition asthe current processing target. The specific-character area determinationunit 263 retains information regarding a specific character(s) that isnot obtained at S44. At S45, the specific-character area determinationunit 263 acquires the feature element that is stored in association withthe determination condition designated as the “combination” in thedetermination condition as the current processing target. Morespecifically, the specific-character area determination unit 263acquires the dividing line or lines stored at S25 and the backgrounddividing-line or lines stored at S35.

At S46, the specific-character area determination unit 263 sets an areawith reference to a specific character and an attribute of the areabased on the specific character acquired at S44, the feature element(s)acquired at S45, and the determination condition as the currentprocessing target. For example, when the current processing target isthe determination condition of ID=B_001, the specific-character areadetermination unit 263 sets a region from the specific charactersatisfying the element conditions and a next dividing line satisfyingthe element conditions associated with ID=A_001 along a direction inwhich the character string is arranged. Further, the specific-characterarea determination unit 263 sets an attribute of that area to text.

After the loop L3 from S42 to S46, or when the determination result atS41 is NO, the operation proceeds to S47. At S47, the area extractionunit 266 consolidates those three types of area that are respectivelyset with reference to a dividing line, a background dividing-line, and aspecific character to determine an area whose attribute is text in theimage data. Although a description has been given of an example in whichthe area having the attribute of text is determined, an area having anyother suitable attribute such as a picture area may be determined.

After S47, the operation ends. It should be noted that a detaileddescription is given later of the process of S47 with reference to FIG.13.

In the operation of FIGS. 6A, 6B and 7 as described heretofore,processes at S22, S23, and S43 correspond to a process of a step ofextracting and a function of circuitry to extract a feature element.Further, processes at S24, S34, S46 and S47 correspond to a process of astep of setting an attribute and a function of circuitry to set anattribute.

The text area determination unit 212 in this embodiment performs theextraction of feature element and the setting of attribute by thecircuitry for each of a plurality of types of feature elements, whileselecting a type of feature element as a processing target in apredetermined order as described heretofore.

Hereinafter, a description is given of several examples in which theoperation of FIGS. 6A, 6B and 7 is applied to specific image data.

FIGS. 8A to 8C are illustrations for describing an example in which theprocesses from S22 to S25 of setting an area with reference to adividing line are applied to image data that is obtained by scanning animage on a sheet of paper.

FIG. 8A is a schematic view illustrating the image data in the initialstate. In FIG. 8A, each of bold lines 601 to 605 indicates a dividingline. Further, in FIG. 8A, characters are indicated by narrow lines 610,in order to simplify the drawing.

FIG. 8B is a view illustrating the image data in which dividing linessatisfying the element conditions are extracted from among the boldlines 601 to 605. When it is assumed that an interval of one column is30 mm and a thickness of each dividing line is 0.1 mm, dividing lines701 to 703 are each extracted as a dividing line satisfying the elementconditions by the processes of S22 and S23 in FIG. 6A when a processingtarget is ID=A 002.

FIG. 8C is a view illustrating the image data in which areas are setwith reference to the extracted dividing lines. More specifically, areas706 to 708 are set as illustrated in FIG. 8C, because a portionsandwiched between the extracted dividing lines is set to an area by theprocess of S24 in FIG. 6A.

It should be noted that a dividing line 705 is also illustrated in FIG.8, which is extracted when a processing target is ID=A_001 in Table 2.Because only the dividing line 705 is extracted as a dividing linesatisfying the element conditions associated with ID=A_001, there is noarea sandwiched between dividing lines. Accordingly, no area is set whenthe processing target is ID=A_001.

FIGS. 9A and 9B are illustrations for describing an example in which theprocesses from S32 to S35 of setting an area with reference to abackground dividing-line are applied to the same image data as thatillustrated in FIG. 8A.

More specifically, FIG. 9A is a view illustrating the image data inwhich background areas satisfying the element conditions are extracted.As illustrated in FIG. 9A, areas 801 to 804 are each extracted as abackground area in the image data. Because only the background areas 801and 802 satisfy the element conditions associated with ID=C_002 in Table4, for example, each of the background areas 801 and 802 is extracted asa background dividing-line.

FIG. 9B is a view illustrating the image data in which areas are setwith reference to the extracted background dividing-lines. Morespecifically, an area 811 is set as illustrated in FIG. 9B, because aportion sandwiched between the extracted background dividing-lines isset to an area by the process of S34. It should be noted that an area812 is not sandwiched between the background dividing lines 801 and 802.However, when A_002 is designated as the “combination” in the elementconditions, a portion sandwiched between the dividing line 703 and thebackground dividing lines 802 to an area 812. Alternatively, when “aportion that contacts a background dividing-line” is assigned to the“range” in the element conditions, the area 812 is set in the similarway as above.

FIG. 10 is an illustration for describing an example in which theprocesses from S42 to S45 in FIG. 7 of setting an area with reference toa specific character are performed on image data. With reference to FIG.10, a description is given of an example in which the processes areperformed on the determination condition of ID=B_001 in Table 3.

Because the dividing line of A_001 is designated as the “combination” inthis determination condition, an area is set using dividing lines 901and 902 each satisfying the element conditions associated with A_001.

The specific-character area determination unit 263 generates image dataof a specific character based on “Å” of the “symbol” and “horizontal” ofthe “direction” in the element conditions. Further, thespecific-character area determination unit 263 determines whether imagedata contains a portion that matches the generated image data ofspecific character. The specific-character area determination unit 263detects a character “Å” 95 as illustrated in FIG. 10. Based on thedetection, the specific-character area determination unit 263 sets aregion sandwiched between a position of the character “Å” and the nextdividing line 902 to an area 903.

It may take a long time to detect a portion that matches the image dataof specific character from the entire image data. To address this issue,a position and the like of the specific character relative to a dividingline designated by the “combination” may be defined in advance, and thedetection of a portion that matches the image data of specific charactermay be performed on only the position defined in advance.

Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 11A and 11B, a description is givenof an operation of extracting a background diving-line using thedetermination condition regarding a dividing line when a documentincludes a background dividing line but the determination conditions 265does not include the condition regarding a background dividing-line.This operation is a modified example of the process of extracting thebackground dividing-line in an operation of FIGS. 6A, 6B and 7.

FIG. 11A, the dividing lines 701 to 704 are the same as those of FIG.8B. As illustrated in FIG. 11A, a background diving-line is likely toexist on a line extending over a dividing-line that terminates at somepoint in the image, such as the dividing lines 701 or 702. Accordingly,detection of background is performed on extensions 1001 and 1002 todetect background areas. The determination conditions regarding adividing-line are applied to the detected background areas to extractbackground dividing-line areas based on which a text area or other areasare set.

In this example, as illustrated in FIG. 11B, dividing lines 1003 and1004 are extracted on the extensions 1001 and 1002. Accordingly, areas1006 and 1007 are set, each being an area sandwiched between thedividing lines, in accordance with the determination conditionsregarding a dividing line.

Hereinafter, a description is given of extracting a candidate for abackground dividing-line based on a result of background area extractionwith reference to FIGS. 12A and 12B.

It should be noted that whether characters are written vertically orhorizontally in the image data is determined using any suitabletechnique known in the art. After the determination as to whethercharacters are horizontally written or vertically written, thebackground dividing-line area determination unit 262 obtains histograms1102 and 1103, which respectively represent vertical and horizontalblack portions in image data 1101, as illustrated in FIG. 12A. Becausethe image data 1101 represents a document in which characters arewritten in a vertical direction, spaces between lines in the histogram1103 are obtained. However, the background dividing-line areadetermination unit 262 does not determine spaces between lines as acandidate for a background dividing-line. The background dividing-linearea determination unit 262 extracts background portions in the imagedata 1101, which respectively correspond to portions 1131 and 1132 inthe histogram 1103, each having a low histogram value and a widthgreater than a line space. Accordingly, as illustrated in FIG. 12B, thebackground dividing-line area determination unit 262 extracts areas 1131and 1134 each being constituted by a continuous background as acandidate for a background dividing-line.

Further, the background dividing-line area determination unit 262extracts background portions in the image data 1101, which respectivelycorrespond to portions 1121, 1122 and 1123 each having a low value inthe histogram 1102. Accordingly, the background dividing-line areadetermination unit 262 extracts areas 1124, 1125, and 1126 each beingconstituted by a continuous background as a candidate for a backgrounddividing-line.

Thresholds 1104 and 1105 based on which a histogram value is low or notis determined are set in advance in a system.

Hereinafter, a description is given of an operation of consolidating thesetting result of areas based on the plurality of feature elements todetermine a text area, with reference to FIG. 13. This operationcorresponds to S47 of FIG. 7.

In FIG. 13, the setting result of the text area based on a dividing lineis illustrated with hatching in 1201. Further, the setting result of thetext area based on a background dividing-line is illustrated withhatching in 1202. Further, the setting result of the text area based ona specific character is illustrated with hatching in 1203.

The reference number 1204 illustrates a state where 1201 and 1202 arecombined. Further, the reference number 1205 illustrates a state where1204 and 1203 are combined. In order to describe an overlapping portionin 1205, one line is picked up, and a portion to which the text area isset based on each of the feature elements is surrounded by a solid lineand indicated by “1” (1211 to 1213). Specifically, in 1211, a portion towhich the text area is set based on a specific character is surroundedby a solid line and indicated by “1”. In 1212, a portion to which thetext area is set based on a background dividing-line is surrounded by asolid line and indicated by “1”. Further, in 1213, a portion to whichthe text area is set based on a dividing-line is surrounded by a solidline and indicated by “1”. The reference number 1214 indicates data ofwhich entire portion is set to “0” as a measure of a size of one line.

The values in 1211 to 1213 are summed coordinate by coordinate (1215,1216), and the sum result are used for finally determining a text area.

The reference number 1215 illustrates an example in which the thresholdis set to 2, and an area in which the sum result is 2 or more is set asa text area. In this example, a portion surrounded by a solid line isdetermined as a text area.

The reference number 1216 illustrates an example in which a prioritylevel of the setting result of text area based on a dividing line israised. In this example, a portion in which the sum result is 2 or moreand the determination result is “1” in 1213 is surrounded by a solidline. This portion surrounded by a solid line is determined as a textarea.

As described heretofore, the text area determination unit 212 in thisembodiment performs, for each of the plurality of types of featureelements, the extraction of feature element and the setting of attributewith reference to the determination condition by the circuitry. Thecircuitry to set the attribute sums the attributes that are respectivelyset for the plurality of types of feature elements, and sets theattribute of each portion in the input image data based on the sumresult.

In a case in which there is a large number of determination methods, adetermination method whose priority is high is multiplied by a factorthat in accordance with a priority level. The text area is determineddepending on whether the sum of the values obtained by themultiplication is more than or equal to a threshold such as “2” in 1215.The threshold and the priority level are set in advance.

In the disclosure, the specific configuration of the apparatus, thespecific steps in the operation, a data format, the specific content ofdata, the content, number or items of the determination conditions, etc.are not limited to the above description.

For example, when acquiring and processing regarding a text area basedon the extraction of the plurality of feature elements, the text area isdetermined in consideration of priority of the features from among theplurality types of results or with conditions for setting a text area.This enhances the extensibility in a case in which the determination oftext area is performed in a processing procedure other than that of theabove-described embodiment. In addition, when a user interface isprovided for enabling a user to set the conditions, operability for theuser may improve.

Further, when acquiring the feature regarding a text area based on theextraction of a dividing line, a dividing line as a processing targetmay be determined as a dividing line in a newspaper, for example. Thisenables providing a condition with a determination attribute of theattribute information. Accordingly, a feature of a dividing line to beextracted in the extraction of dividing line may be specified to improvean accuracy of extraction.

Furthermore, when acquiring the feature regarding the text area based onthe extraction of a background dividing-line, a line extending over theextracted dividing line may be assumed, and it may be determined whethera text area is set based on image data on the extended line. Thisenables keeping an accuracy of determination of a text area even at aposition where a dividing line does not exist.

Still further, when acquiring the feature regarding a text area based onthe extraction of a specific character, the text area may be determinedbased on font data. With this configuration, a certain specificcharacter, which is likely to determined erroneously in the lineextraction, is determined as a text area. Accordingly, an accuracyimproves.

Still further, when extracting a plurality of types of feature elements,a user may determine priority indicating which type of feature elementis to be extracted prior to another type of feature element. When theorder of extraction of the feature elements is specified, a text area ora picture area is determined in accordance with the user intention.

Still further, when storing the determination conditions as informationcontaining an extraction range and a determination result, theextraction range and the determination result may be acquired togetherwith the determination conditions. In this case, the extraction range orthe determination result may be determined based on the acquiredinformation. This enables determining the extraction range or storingthe determination result depending on the number of items of extractioncriteria.

Still further, when storing the determination conditions as informationcontaining a controlling operation of image processing, the controllingoperation of image processing may be acquired together with thedetermination conditions. In this case, the image processing iscontrolled based on the acquired information. This enables changing thecontrolling operation depending on the number of items of extractioncriteria.

Still further, the extraction criteria for extracting a type of documentmay be stored. In this case, a type of document such as a text documentor a photograph document may be determined based on the extractioncriteria. When the type of document is identified, the time taken forcompression of a document in which a ratio of characters is high may bereduced. In addition, image processing depending on a type of documentmay be performed.

Still further, when the characteristics of text and a picture aredistinguished from each other as characteristics of an image, differentimage processing may be performed on the text portion and the pictureportion respectively. With this configuration, for image data in whichan edge portion of text is thin and difficult to read, image processingmay be performed to increase the density of the edge portion only in thetext portion or to increase the density of the text itself. Accordingly,the text is made easy to read.

Still further, when the characteristics of an image are thecharacteristics of a document, image processing may be changed dependingon the characteristics of document. Examples of a document whosebackground density is high and printed on a thin sheet of paper includea newspaper and advertisement. When the background density is very highor when the document is printed in duplex, show-through may occur andthereby text becomes difficult to read. Background correction processingor show-through removal processing may be performed on image dataobtained by scanning a document having these characteristics to improveeligibility of text.

A program according to an embodiment of the present disclosure instructsa computer to control hardware to implement part of or the entirety ofthe functions of the MFP 100 in the above-described embodiment.

This program may be stored in advance in a ROM or any other suitablenonvolatile storage medium such as a flash memory and an electricallyerasable and programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) included in thecomputer. Alternatively, this program may be stored in any suitablerecording medium, such as a memory card, a compact disc (CD), a digitalversatile disc (DVD), and a Blue-ray disc, for distribution. The programstored in at least any one of those recording medium may be installed ina computer executing the program to implement each steps describedabove.

Furthermore, the program may be downloaded from an external apparatusthat is connected to a network and includes a storage medium storing theprogram or an external apparatus that is connected to a network andstores the program in a storage device. The downloaded program may beinstalled in a computer executing the program.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, it is possible todistinguish a text area from other areas with accuracy even in imagedata obtained by scanning a document whose background level is high suchas a newspaper. It should be noted that an area to be detected in theimage data may be any suitable area other than the text area.

The above-described embodiments are illustrative and do not limit thepresent disclosure. Thus, numerous additional modifications andvariations are possible in light of the above teachings. For example,elements and/or features of different illustrative embodiments may becombined with each other and/or substituted for each other within thescope of the present disclosure.

Any one of the above-described operations may be performed in variousother ways, for example, in an order different from the one describedabove.

Each of the functions of the described embodiments may be implemented byone or more processing circuits or circuitry. Processing circuitryincludes a programmed processor, as a processor includes circuitry. Aprocessing circuit also includes devices such as an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), DSP (digital signal processor), FPGA (fieldprogrammable gate array) and conventional circuit components arranged toperform the recited functions.

What is claimed is:
 1. An image processing apparatus, comprising: amemory to store determination conditions; and at least one processor orcircuitry or a combination thereof configured to: acquire image data;extract a feature element from the image data; determine whether theextracted feature element satisfies conditions defined in thedetermination conditions; set an area with reference to an extractedfeature element satisfying the conditions based on the determinationconditions; and set an attribute of the area based on the determinationconditions.
 2. The image processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein: thefeature element includes a plurality of types of feature elements; andthe at least one processor or circuitry or the combination thereof:performs, for each of the plurality of types of feature elements, theextraction of a feature element from the image data and the setting ofan attribute; calculates a sum of attributes that are set for respectiveones of the plurality of types of feature element; and sets theattribute of each portion in the image data based on the calculated sum.3. The image processing apparatus of claim 2, wherein the at least oneprocessor or circuitry or the combination thereof performs, for each ofthe plurality types of feature elements, the extraction of a featureelement from the image data and the setting of an attribute whileselecting one of the plurality of types of feature elements as aprocessing target in a specific order.
 4. The image processing apparatusof claim 2, wherein one of the plurality of types of feature elements isa dividing line.
 5. The image processing apparatus of claim 2, wherein:one of the plurality of types of feature elements is a specificcharacter; and an area in the image data from which the specificcharacter is to be extracted is defined relative to a position of apreviously extracted feature element of a type other than the specificcharacter based on the determination conditions.
 6. The image processingapparatus of claim 2, wherein: the plurality of types of featureelements include a dividing line and a background dividing-line; and ina case in which the at least one processor or circuitry or thecombination thereof extracts the dividing line from the image data, theat least one processor or circuitry or the combination thereof tries toextract the background dividing-line from an area extending over theextracted dividing line.
 7. The image processing apparatus of claim 1,wherein the image data is constructed of a plurality of portions, andthe at least one processor or circuitry or the combination thereof isfurther configured to perform image processing on each portion of theimage data, the image processing varying depending on the attribute setto each portion.
 8. The image processing apparatus of claim 7, whereinthe image processing includes processing that is performed on a portionof which attribute is set to a text area to emphasize text characters.9. A method of processing an image, comprising: acquiring image data;extracting a feature element from the image data; determine whether theextracted feature element satisfies conditions defined in determinationconditions; setting an area with reference to an extracted featureelement determined as satisfying the conditions based on thedetermination conditions; and setting an attribute of the area based onthe determination condition.
 10. A non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium storing a computer-executable program that, whenexecuted, causes the computer to function as an image processingapparatus comprising: acquire image data; extract a feature element fromthe image data; determine whether the extracted feature elementsatisfies conditions defined in the determination conditions; set anarea with reference to an extracted feature element satisfying theconditions based on the determination conditions; and set an attributeof the area based on the determination conditions.